Cargando…

Control of Tungiasis in Absence of a Roadmap: Grassroots and Global Approaches

Tungiasis is a tropical skin disease caused by the sand flea Tunga penetrans. It inflicts misery upon tens of millions of people, mostly children, across Central and South America and sub-Saharan Africa, and yet there is no globally accepted roadmap for its control. Here we review how research in th...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Elson, Lynne, Wright, Katherine, Swift, Jennifer, Feldmeier, Herman
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6082108/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30270889
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed2030033
_version_ 1783345766681542656
author Elson, Lynne
Wright, Katherine
Swift, Jennifer
Feldmeier, Herman
author_facet Elson, Lynne
Wright, Katherine
Swift, Jennifer
Feldmeier, Herman
author_sort Elson, Lynne
collection PubMed
description Tungiasis is a tropical skin disease caused by the sand flea Tunga penetrans. It inflicts misery upon tens of millions of people, mostly children, across Central and South America and sub-Saharan Africa, and yet there is no globally accepted roadmap for its control. Here we review how research in the last 15 years has developed control methods and report on new grassroots and digital mapping approaches. Treatment is now possible with a two-component dimethicone, used for the treatment of headlice in Europe, Asia and Canada, but not yet available in most tungiasis-endemic areas. Prevention is possible through the daily use of repellents based on coconut oil. A Kenyan coastal community has successfully controlled tungiasis using a neem and coconut oil mix produced locally to treat cases, combined with spraying floors with neem solution and distributing closed shoes. Development of affordable hard floor technology is underway, although not yet widely available, but is a priority to control off-host stages in the floors of homes. A new web-based digital mapping application will enable researchers and health officials to collaborate, share data and map the prevalence of tungiasis. We conclude that tungiasis can be controlled through a multi-disciplinary, One Health approach.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6082108
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2017
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-60821082018-09-24 Control of Tungiasis in Absence of a Roadmap: Grassroots and Global Approaches Elson, Lynne Wright, Katherine Swift, Jennifer Feldmeier, Herman Trop Med Infect Dis Commentary Tungiasis is a tropical skin disease caused by the sand flea Tunga penetrans. It inflicts misery upon tens of millions of people, mostly children, across Central and South America and sub-Saharan Africa, and yet there is no globally accepted roadmap for its control. Here we review how research in the last 15 years has developed control methods and report on new grassroots and digital mapping approaches. Treatment is now possible with a two-component dimethicone, used for the treatment of headlice in Europe, Asia and Canada, but not yet available in most tungiasis-endemic areas. Prevention is possible through the daily use of repellents based on coconut oil. A Kenyan coastal community has successfully controlled tungiasis using a neem and coconut oil mix produced locally to treat cases, combined with spraying floors with neem solution and distributing closed shoes. Development of affordable hard floor technology is underway, although not yet widely available, but is a priority to control off-host stages in the floors of homes. A new web-based digital mapping application will enable researchers and health officials to collaborate, share data and map the prevalence of tungiasis. We conclude that tungiasis can be controlled through a multi-disciplinary, One Health approach. MDPI 2017-07-27 /pmc/articles/PMC6082108/ /pubmed/30270889 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed2030033 Text en © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Commentary
Elson, Lynne
Wright, Katherine
Swift, Jennifer
Feldmeier, Herman
Control of Tungiasis in Absence of a Roadmap: Grassroots and Global Approaches
title Control of Tungiasis in Absence of a Roadmap: Grassroots and Global Approaches
title_full Control of Tungiasis in Absence of a Roadmap: Grassroots and Global Approaches
title_fullStr Control of Tungiasis in Absence of a Roadmap: Grassroots and Global Approaches
title_full_unstemmed Control of Tungiasis in Absence of a Roadmap: Grassroots and Global Approaches
title_short Control of Tungiasis in Absence of a Roadmap: Grassroots and Global Approaches
title_sort control of tungiasis in absence of a roadmap: grassroots and global approaches
topic Commentary
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6082108/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30270889
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed2030033
work_keys_str_mv AT elsonlynne controloftungiasisinabsenceofaroadmapgrassrootsandglobalapproaches
AT wrightkatherine controloftungiasisinabsenceofaroadmapgrassrootsandglobalapproaches
AT swiftjennifer controloftungiasisinabsenceofaroadmapgrassrootsandglobalapproaches
AT feldmeierherman controloftungiasisinabsenceofaroadmapgrassrootsandglobalapproaches